Condition one and round deformation?

I have no problem with carrying condition one. I have a Springfield Armory xd-45 and my CPL in Michigan.

My question is this...I saw a segment with Dick Metcalf on one of the TV shows, maybe PDTV...and he talked about it being bad to chamber a round and then unchamber it and then use it again. With the price of good carry ammo these days, is this a concern. After chambering a round to Condition one for either home defense or carry, does the round become damaged and need to be disposed of...?? Or can it be used again and again?

If you enjoyed reading about "Condition one and round deformation?" here in TheHighRoad.org archive, you'll LOVE our community. Come join TheHighRoad.org today for the full version!

HoosierQ

February 15, 2009, 12:12 AM

I have noticed that my nickel plated brass Hydra Shoks that come in and out of the chamber are pretty scratched up. I have wondered this myself. I would assume that a scratched up one would be best put back in the chamber first up as you can make sure it locks up. I would assume that would cover the problem but certainly look forward to hearing from others who know more.

That's what I do, always put the scratched up one back in the pipe with nice smooth ones in the mag.

My Glock 17 chambers the scratched up round just fine...manually by racking the slide.

Rockwell1

February 15, 2009, 12:16 AM

To directly answer your question yes, constant rechamberings will cause bullet set back which could cause an overpressure condition in the round

Unless you are switching to practice ammunition you really should only have to unload your piece once a week or so to clean it.
Once it's loaded leave it loaded.

When I unload my piece I rotate the ammunition so that the former chambered round goes to the bottom of the magazine where, in theory, it will take it 8 weeks and 8 cleanings to be chambered again every 6 months I fire my carry rounds and reload.

LoneStarWings

February 15, 2009, 12:50 AM

Hmm, this is interesting. I chamber and eject one of my HST's every night when I practice/dry fire. I also eject one before I go to the range since I practice with cheaper ammo.

Maybe I should just stop keeping one in the chamber since I'm not carrying, just using my pistol for HD. I'd probably have plenty of time to rack the slide in any potential HD scenario.

possum

February 15, 2009, 01:13 AM

welcome to thr.

just be sure that you check the oal with other rounds that haven't been chambered and re chambered. even better if you have a set of calipers to check the oal. or you could just cycle through the ammo every once in a while.

with most brands of ammo there isn't an issue that i have found. except for hydrashoks, they seem to get a case of the bullet setting back in the neck to far only after minimal chambering, and re chambering.

though ammo is expensive, and everyone understands that, you need your ccw/ defense gun to be in the best shape it can be at all times, proper maintaining of the gun and mags, change springs and ammo when need be, and though that does cost money, you will be better off becuase of it. arming yourself and especially training to be able to defend yourself isn't cheap but it is cheaper insurance than the alternative.

if you do see that there is considerable bullet setback occuring dis continue use of that particular round. as this may cause serious issues if you were to have to fire them.

Steve C

February 15, 2009, 02:08 AM

and he talked about it being bad to chamber a round and then unchamber it and then use it again. With the price of good carry ammo these days, is this a concern. After chambering a round to Condition one for either home defense or carry, does the round become damaged and need to be disposed of...?? Or can it be used again and again?

IMO its a bunch of blather. I say go ahead and use the bullet until its too beat up for your comfort level. Then go shoot it and replace that one bullet with a fresh one. I shoot up my carry ammo every year or two anyway and replentish it with new. Its always went bang and left holes in the target where aimed.

Over the years I've found some particular brands of ammo will set back after several chamberings. Most factory ammo has a pretty heavy crimp and you don't get any set back even with many chamberings and ejections. As long as you haven't pulled a piece of the rim off and the extractor can still get a hold of the case it will work. Short OAL could be an issue with feeding so it you have a short round just make sure its the one in the chamber, the others will follow fine after its fired.

Occasionally I've used some light taps with a kinetic bullet puller on ammo that's got too short to bring the bullet out and then reseated and crimped the bullet at proper length.

Despite all the nervous Nellie talk about bullet set back causing higher pressure I've never seen it be significant enough with factory ammo to observe any pressure signs and I've shot plenty of shortened rounds over the last 34 years. IMO this worry regarding OAL and pressure is for the most part an improper transference of a little bit of information, the note in ONE manual (Speer's) regarding seating 9mm shorter than listed OAL can, not will. cause excessive pressure. This certainly isn't a blanket statement regarding all powders or calibers.

dfariswheel

February 15, 2009, 02:09 PM

Dangerous over pressure from bullet set back is NOT the major danger of repeated chambering.
The real danger is "second round stoppage".

This turned up in the early days of the police change to the auto pistol.
Officers would fire their pistol and the second round would fail to feed, causing a stoppage.
This was traced to officers chambering the same round over and over again after doing the daily inspection, causing the bullet to set back in the case, shortening the overall length.

Today, police ammo is usually rated by the factories for 2 to 4 chamberings before the round needs to be fired in practice or discarded.

rcmodel

February 15, 2009, 02:25 PM

If it is a concern, take a Black Sharpie pin and mark a ring around the bullet at the case mouth on all your new carry ammo.

When the mark goes inside the case, it's time to retire the round to the practice ammo stash.

rc

If you enjoyed reading about "Condition one and round deformation?" here in TheHighRoad.org archive, you'll LOVE our community. Come join TheHighRoad.org today for the full version!